


Dief & Turtle & Donuts

by orphan_account



Category: due South
Genre: Donuts, Gen, Interspecies Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 04:19:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turtle has never had a donut.  Dief thinks this is a damned dirty shame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dief & Turtle & Donuts

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [look_turtles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/look_turtles/pseuds/look_turtles) in the [DS_C6D_Prompt_Meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DS_C6D_Prompt_Meme) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
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> Dief and Turtle being the awesome buddies I just know they are. Bonus points if it includes Turtle loving doughnuts like Dief does.
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> For the purposes of fulfilling this prompt, Turtle has no name beyond Turtle and is male. Also, I used the simplified spelling of "donuts" rather than the more elegant but typing-intensive "doughnuts."

It was inevitable that eventually Ray and Fraser would have to leave Dief alone in Ray's apartment.  Or almost alone, what with Turtle in his tank.  There were just too many situations that started with Ray and Fraser sitting around the apartment, watching TV or playing chess or just shooting the breeze, and then the phone would ring and it would be a no-wolf situation and Ray and Fraser would be gone for hours and hours and hours (or even a couple of days) without having time to arrange for Dief to have alternative lodgings.

It wasn't as if Dief couldn't get out of Ray's apartment.  _That_ was puppy's play.  And it wasn't like Ray or Fraser (or both) wouldn't leave plenty of water and food for Dief right there in the apartment.  Ray would even usually, unless the phone call was particularly dire or urgent, make sure Dief knew where the remote for the television was.

Fraser didn't like that last one.  He seemed to think that Dief should be reading improving books or something.  Dief sometimes thought Fraser had unrealistic expectations of him.  Dief always wanted Fraser to think Dief was beyond competent, but turning pages was a little beyond him.  And Fraser kept leaving copies of things like _War and Peace_ around.  Babar the Elephant was much more Dief's speed.

Ray's initial instance that wolves and turtles were natural, longstanding enemies was, of course, absolute hogwash.  Since the two humans did end up having to leave Dief behind, and Turtle never came to grief, Ray began to relax.   He was surprisingly attached to Turtle, given that he'd never bothered to name him.

Dief mostly thought Turtle was kind of dull.  His big trick was pulling his head into his shell and then, at unpredictable intervals, poking it out to look around.  The longest he ever stayed out of his shell was one time, during a Bogart marathon on Turner Classics, when he watched both Dief and the TV; _Casablanca_.  

The general tide of mutual indifference turned when, following a particularly urgent call, Ray put down some water for Dief, chucked a lettuce leaf in Turtle's tank, and then looked at Dief, consternated.  He set down a couple of jelly donuts on a plate.

"I know this is gonna break your heart, buddy," he said.  Fraser interrupted him to say, disapprovingly, "In more ways than one."  Ray ignored Fraser.  "But I've only got these donuts.  Try to make 'em last, okay?"

Then the humans took off.  Dief sternly rationed the donuts, or at least planned to.  While he was calculating the likely amount of time Fraser and Ray would be gone, trying to figure out from past experience if mean or median would prove to be the more accurate predictor, he thought maybe he heard something.  He wasn't sure if there really was a sound, or a vibration, or what.  He sometimes heard things that weren't there, like he'd heard from one old three-legged wolf about phantom pain.

But something made him look around.  Turtle had his head extended and was looking at Dief with more animation than Dief had ever seen him exhibit before.

"Sometimes," Turtle said, enunciating carefully so Dief could read the movements of his mouth, "I really wish my human would give me one of those."  Turtle indicated the jelly donuts.

Dief was surprised, but Fraser had always stressed politeness and this didn't seem like the time to ignore that advice.

"Do you like jelly donuts?"  Dief asked politely.

"I don't know," Turtle said mournfully.  "I only ever get lettuce and flies.  You certainly seem to like them," Turtle added, but he didn't sound jealous, just curious.

Dief was shocked.  He'd never thought of Ray as a cruel man, but he did know that Ray could be thoughtless.  It took some doing, but Dief managed to maneuver a bit of jelly donut into Turtle's tank.

Turtle waited politely until Dief was back by his plate so they could enjoy their partitioned donut together.  Dief was kind of excited; he hoped Turtle would enjoy his first donut-taste.  But Dief was curious no matter what.  Turtle wasn't even a mammal.  Did turtles in general, or this particular Turtle, have anything like a sweet tooth?  Or, more accurately, sweet jaws with horn-like ridges?

"Oh, my stars," Turtle said.  "This is pretty much the best thing ever."

"Isn't it though?" Dief agreed.

"Is there a way to get more of these things?"

Dief snuffled a laugh. "Not just more but," he paused for dramatic effect, "there are different kinds of donuts."

"It can't be possible," Turtle said in wonder.  "Can it?" he added in hope.

"Oh, yes," Dief said happily.  "And I'm sure an enterprising team comprised of a half-wolf and a full turtle can probably manage to find some in this vast metropolis."

"Dief," Turtle said, both serious and happy at the same time, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."


End file.
